Character of active faulting in the North Aegean Sea

A re-evaluation of the reprocessed seismic reflection data was made for the investigation of the presumed western continuation of the North Anatolian Fault (NAF) in the Aegean and mapping geometries of active faults in the Aegean Sea. Seismic data collected and processed by various national and international companies were selected from the data archives and they were reprocessed after stacking to bring them to the same processing and signal-to-noise ratio standards. The total length of the selected lines is 8000 km. We investigated the character of active faulting in the North Aegean Sea using seismic reflection data. Moreover, the relations of active faults with earthquakes were examined using earthquake fault plane solutions (FPS). We show that the active faults are dominantly normal in character in the NNE Aegean where FPS for earthquakes with M>5 indicate strike-slip movements along these faults. We propose a simple mechanism that potentially explains this inconsistency. Active normal faults are oriented in a NE–SW direction in alignment with the SW escape motion of the Anatolian block in this region and this orientation facilitates instantaneously strike-slip movements along these otherwise normal faults.     

Tectonics related to the North Anatolian Fault in the Sea of Marmara: evidence from seismic reflection data

The North Anatolian Fault crosses the Sea of Marmara from east to west. Tectonic features of the Sea of Marmara were studied using multi-channel deep seismic reflection data. The northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault is active as a right lateral strike-slip fault zone and indicates both negative and positive flower structures. The North Anatolian Fault splays into two faults at the Sea of Marmara as a northern branch and north segment of the southern branch. The northern branch named the Main Marmara Fault extends in a complicated manner from the north of the Kapıdağı Peninsula to westward in the Sea of Marmara. The north segment of southern branch extends between the Gemlik and Bandırma gulfs in the south of the Sea of Marmara. In addition, uplift areas arose by compression and a push-up style in between the Kapıdağı Peninsula and the Main Marmara Fault. The North Anatolian Fault is characterized by a negative flower structure in basins and push-up style in uplift areas in the Sea of Marmara. An uplift area arose between the north segment of the southern branch and the northern branch of the North Anatolian Fault. The north segment of the southern branch of the North Anatolian Fault is a strike-slip fault and displays a pull-apart style in the seismic reflection data.     

Interaction between trench retreat and Anatolian escape as recorded by neogene basins in the northern Aegean Sea

The evolution of the North Aegean Sea is studied through the development of three deep basins: the North Aegean Trough, the North Skyros Basin and the Ikaria Basin. Bathymetric data, a 2D seismic dataset and the well-investigated stratigraphic records of the onshore deep basins of northern Greece and Western Turkey were used to make structural and seismic stratigraphic interpretations. The study area shows two sharp unconformities that correspond to the Eocene-Oligocene transition and the Miocene-Pliocene shift. These discontinuities were used as marker horizons for a more detailed structural and seismic stratigraphic interpretation resulting in the identification of several seismic units. A general seismic signature chart was established using onshore basin stratigraphy and well data, which was then used to constrain the ages of the different seismic units. The main features observed in the basins are interpreted as: 1) trans-tensional growth patterns in Pliocene and Quaternary sediments that combine NE–SW trending and steeply dipping fault zones that likely correspond to strike-slip corridors and E-W/WNW-ESE trending normal faults, 2) regional erosional truncations of Miocene sediments, likely related to the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), 3) thick delta-turbidite deposits of Neogene age. Only the North Aegean Trough shows evidence of earlier development and polyphase deformation through inversion structures, and additional seismic units. Extension processes in the Aegean region have been driven by the Hellenic slab rollback since the middle Eocene. The widespread development of Neogene basins at the whole Aegean scale attests to a major tectonic change due to an acceleration of the trench retreat in the middle Miocene. The present study shows that the Neogene basins of the North Aegean Sea developed in dextral transtension with the northward migration of the associated NE-SW trending strike-slip faults. At regional scale, this tectonic pattern indicates that the westward escape of Anatolia started to interact with the trench retreat in the middle Miocene, around 10 Myr before the arrival of the North Anatolian Fault in the North Aegean Sea.     

Late Devonian rifting in the central North Sea: Evidence from altered felsic volcanic rocks in the Embla oil field

In the Embla oil field on the northern flank of the Mid North Sea High, the central North Sea, multiple quartz porphyric volcanic beds at ca. 4600 m depth form part of a volcano-sedimentary interval above the Caledonian basement as interpreted from seismic data. Zircon U–Pb laser ablation ICPMS date one bed to 374 ± 3 Ma, indicating that the volcanic rocks and interbedded sediments are early Famennian and correlate to the Buchan Formation. The volcanic rocks have been extensively clay and carbonate altered in a near-surface environment, but high field strength element data show that the protoliths were alkali rhyolites, yielding intra-plate signatures in tectonic discrimination diagrams. Famennian quartz porphyric volcanic rocks have also been reported from well A17-1 on the southern flank of the Mid North Sea High. The Famennian volcanism on the northern and southern flanks testify to an active magmatic environment in the central North Sea in the early Famennian, supporting the existence of a late Devonian proto-Central Graben rift extending northwards into the central North Sea. The rift is likely an early example of strain localisation to a zone of reduced crustal strength along the Caledonian suture between Avalonia and Baltica.     

Seismic facies analysis of Westphalian sequences of the southern North Sea

Differing seismic facies are observed from within the Westphalian sequences of the southern North Sea. A review of published synthetic seismograms and seismic data from known coal-bearing basins establishes seismic facies types and their relationships. Similar reflection character is recognized from Westphalian sequences in the southern North Sea and lithologies confirmed by borehole information. Probable sand/silt or clastic-prone Upper Coal Measures (Westphalian C/D) stages and coal-prone Lower and Middle Coal Measures (Westphalian A, B and part C) stages can be defined and mapped, providing information on the regional distribution of source and reservoir rocks and stratigraphic plays. It is suggested that sand-prone channel complexes or clastic dominated areas within the mainly A/B stages can be recognized and mapped, providing information on migration pathways and stratigraphic plays.     

Re-entrants of Zechstein Z2 salt in the Mid North Sea High

The study of recently-acquired seismic data in the Southern Basin of the British North Sea has led to identification of some interesting re-entrant channels of Zechstein Z2 (Stassfurt) salt rock projecting northwards from the Southern Salt Basin into the Mid North Sea High (MNSH) area. The lithostratigraphic relationships of the various Zechstein units in these re-entrants and on the adjacent shelf areas, together with their morphology, are discussed, and there is speculation as to the reasons for the occurrence of MNSH low areas which are not related to faulting.     

The Shandong mud wedge and post-glacial sediment accumulation in the Yellow Sea

Two well-defined deltaic sequences in the Bohai Sea and in the South Yellow Sea represent post-glacial accumulation of Yellow River-derived sediments. Another prominent depocenter on this epicontinental shelf, a pronounced clinoform in the North Yellow Sea, wraps around the northeastern and southeastern end of the Shandong Peninsula, extending into the South Yellow Sea. This Shandong mud wedge is 20 to 40 m thick and contains an estimated 300 km3 of sediment. Radiocarbon dating, shallow seismic profiles, and regional sea-level history suggest that the mud wedge formed when the rate of post-glacial sea-level rise slackened and the summer monsoon intensified, at about 11 ka. Geomorphic configuration and mineralogical data indicate that present-day sediment deposited on the Shandong mud wedge comes not only from the Yellow River but also from coastal erosion and local rivers. Basin-wide circulation in the North Yellow Sea may transport and redistribute fine sediments into and out of the mud wedge.     

海洋广角地震数据校正方法探讨

海洋广角地震数据的采集具有高投入、高风险及高难度等特点,这使得从海洋上采集到的地震数据显得异常宝贵,但往往由于各种客观条件(如气候条件、定时定位条件、仪器条件及人为因素等)的限制,导致采集到的地震数据存在一些缺陷.以南海地区开展的海陆地震联测及海底地震仪(OBS)探测的试验数据为例,对导航数据时间误差、部分陆地固定台站...     

地震多属性预测技术在南黄海二叠系至三叠系沉积分析中的应用

以往对南黄海盆地沉积相分析主要根据地震剖面的振幅、相位和频率进行地震相划分,再结合测井资料得到沉积相分布,而地震属性除了以上3种属性外,还包含着多种与沉积相有关的属性,以往对沉积相的分析未能充分利用这些地震属性信息.目前,南黄海盆地钻井资料较少,充分利用地震多属性信息对南黄海盆地三叠系下统青龙组—二叠系上统龙潭组、大隆...     

Ecological performance indicators in the North Sea: development and application

Different signals of distress from the North Sea ecosystems started a discussion on the protection of the ecosystem at the third North Sea Ministers Conference in 1990. This was followed by a number of workshops on ecological indicators under the auspices of the North Sea Task Force and the Oslo and Paris Commissions (OSPAR). In 1997 the member countries around the North Sea agreed to develop and apply an ecosystem's approach in the management programs for both the North Sea fisheries and the marine environment. Following this agreement the identification of the ecological qualities objectives for the North Sea ecosystem started. Further work in this direction has lead to the setting up of various national projects geared towards creating a better understanding of the North Sea ecosystem.In the Netherlands, two departments (Water management and Nature and fisheries management) from the Ministry of Transport, Public works and Water Management (V&W) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries Management (LNV) agreed to integrate their policies for the management of the Netherlands section of the North Sea. The results from these projects (started in 1996) should enable the policy makers and managers to formulate policies that could lead to the creation of a balance between the effects of human activities and the preservation of the natural qualities of the North Sea ecosystem.One of the projects is strictly designed to develop ecological indicators for the Dutch part of the North Sea. These indicators are based on various monitoring data and related in one way or another with human activities. In this way it is possible to evaluate the effects of human impacts on the ecosystem. Long-term changes in the ecological performance of the ecosystem can be elucidated by the use of the ecological indicators. Thereby making it possible for the policy makers and the managers of the NCP to evaluate the effects of their policies and management recommendations on the quality of the ecosystem.This paper describes the process and the steps taken by the authorities in the countries around the North Sea to develop a set of ecological indicators for the management of the North Sea ecosystem. Focus will be made on the efforts made in the Netherlands to develop indicators that did provide the basis for the development of Water and Nature conservation policies and new management strategies for maintaining the sustainable use of the Dutch section of the North Sea.     

Joint land-sea seismic survey and research on the deep structures of the Bohai Sea areas

This paper presents the survey and research work of two land-sea profiles in the Bohai Sea, China, carried out in 2010-2011, including the seismic sources on land and in the sea, the ocean bottom seismographs （OBS） and their recovery, the coupling of OBS and the environment noise in sea area, the data quality of OBSs, and the result of data analysis. We focused on the investigation of crustal structures revealed by the two NE／EW-trending joint land-sea profiles. In combination with the Pn-velocity distribution and gravity- magnetic inversion results in the North China Craton, we propose that the undulation of the Moho interface in the Bohai and surrounding areas is not strong, and the lithospheric thinning is mainly caused by the thinning of its mantle part. The research result indicates that obvious lateral variations of Moho depth and seismic velocity appear nearby all the large-scale faults in Bohai Sea, and there is evidence of underplating and reforming of the lower crust by mantle material in the Bohai area. However, geophysical evidence does not appear to support the ＂mantle plume＂ or ＂delamination＂ model for the North China Craton destruction. The crustal structure of the Bohai Sea revealed ＂a relatively normal crust and obviously thinned mantle lid＂, local velocity anomalies and instability phenomena in the crust. These features may represent a combined effect of North China-Yangtze collision at an early stage and the remote action of Pacific plate subduction at a late stage.     

渤黄海海平面的变化及其与ENSO的关系

利用1992年12月至2007年5月的高度计资料,研究了渤黄海海平面的变化特征。统计分析表明,近14a间渤海及北黄海、中央黄海海平面的平均上升高度分别为45.9mm和34.7mm,各海域的海平面上升速度不完全相同。研究发现,南方涛动指数(SOI)、纬向风应力距平都与渤海及北黄海、中央黄海的SLA呈负相关性,渤黄海海平面显著受SOI、纬向风应力调制,并且,SOI与渤黄海海域的风场之间有良好相关。将坐标系进行旋转后,获得与当地海平面异常相关最大的风应力方向。对SLA与新坐标系下风应力距平u的低频分量分析发现,渤海及北黄海海区、中央黄海对海平面影响最大的风应力距平u方向分别为东偏南20°方向、东偏南8°方向,风应力距平u分量与SLA、SOI的低频分量呈现更好的相关性。ENSO通过大气环流过程对渤黄海海域的风场产生影响,当地风场通过纬向风应力对渤黄海海平面的年际变化产生调制作用。因此,ENSO可以通过风应力对渤黄海海平面产生影响。     

Chalk fields along the Lindesnes Ridge, Eldfisk

Eldfisk field lies on the Lindesnes Ridge northwest of the Valhall and Hod fields and to the southeast of Edda in Block 2/7 of the Norwegian North Sea. The field has a complex geological history and reservoir geometry. Seismic reflection data is strongly gas affected and degraded over the majority of the field. The geological model of the field was based exclusively on well data and the model was inadequate to explain some of the production characteristics or to identify additional prospective well locations. In 1982 a programme of Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) was started in the northern part of the field. The seismic data provided by VSP have improved and confirmed the geological model, provided some explanations for production variances and identified further areas of interest.     

Climatological annual cycles of nutrients and chlorophyll in the North Sea

A large amount of nutrient and chlorophyll data from the North Sea were compiled and organised in a research data base to produce annual cycles on a relatively fine spatial resolution of 1° in each horizontal direction. The data originate from many different sources and were partly provided by the ECOMOD data base of the Institut fur Meereskunde in Hamburg and partly by ICES in Copenhagen to cover the time range from 1950 to 1994. While the annual cycles of nutrients and chlorophyll derived for the continental coastal zone are representative for the decade 1984–1993 only, those for the remaining parts of the North Sea may be considered climatological annual cycles based on data from more than four decades. The composite data set of climatological annual cycles of medians and their climatological ranges is well suited to serve for validational and forcing purposes for ecosystem models of the North Sea, which have a resolution larger than or equal to 1° in both longitude and latitude. The annual cycles of the macronutrients and chlorophyll presented here for 1° × 1° squares in the North Sea show especially that sufficient observational data exist to provide initial, forcing and validational data for the simulations with the 130-box setup (ND130) of the ecosystem model ERSEM. The annual cycles presented give a clear picture for the whole of the North Sea. The highest concentrations occur at the continental coasts as a result of continued river input, which is added to the ongoing atmospheric input over the North Sea. Also, from the Atlantic Ocean water with relatively high nutrient concentrations enters the North Sea via the northern boundary. In the productive areas on and around the Dogger Bank nutrient concentrations are lower than in the other parts of the North Sea, even in winter. The areas with seasonal stratification have very different annual cycles in the upper (0–30 m) and lower layers (30 m-bottom). The shallow boxes are fully mixed and exhibit a relatively fast increase of nutrient concentrations caused by summer regeneration of nutrients.     

Morphology,sedimentary infill and depositional environments of the Early Quaternary North Sea Basin (56°–62°N)

The North Sea Basin has been subsiding during the Quaternary and contains hundreds of metres of fill. Seismic surveys (170 000 km²) provide new evidence on Early Quaternary sedimentation, from about 2.75 Ma to around the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary (0.78 Ma). We present an informal seismic stratigraphy for the Early Quaternary of the North Sea, and calculate sediment volumes for major units. Early Quaternary sediment thickness is > 1000 m in the northern basin and >700 m in the central basin (total about 40 000 km³). Northern North Sea basin-fill comprises several clinoform units, prograding westward over 60 000 km². Architecture of the central basin also comprises clinoforms, building from the southeast. To the west, an acoustically layered and mounded unit (Unit Z) was deposited. Remaining accommodation space was filled with fine-grained sediments of two Central Basin units. Above these units, an Upper Regional Unconformity-equivalent (URU) records a conformable surface with flat-lying units that indicate stronger direct glacial influence than on the sediments below. On the North Sea Plateau north of 59°N, the Upper Regional Unconformity (URU) is defined by a shift from westward to eastward dipping seismic reflectors, recording a major change in sedimentation, with the Shetland Platform becoming a significant source. A model of Early Quaternary sediment delivery to the North Sea shows sources from the Scandinavian ice sheet and major European rivers. Clinoforms prograding west in the northern North Sea Basin, representing glacigenic debris flows, indicate an ice sheet on the western Scandinavian margin. In the central basin, sediments are generally fine-grained, suggesting a distal fluvial or glacifluvial origin from European rivers. Ploughmarks also demonstrate that icebergs, derived from an ice sheet to the north, drifted into the central North Sea Basin. By contrast, sediments and glacial landforms above the URU provide evidence for the later presence of a grounded ice sheet.     

北黄海盆地区域地质特征

北黄海盆地位于黄海的北部，由于勘探程度低，研究投入少，使得它成为我国迄今为止尚未发现油气的惟一海区。随着我国在南黄海盆地和朝鲜在北黄海盆地东部发现油气，如何实现北黄海盆地油气突破，成为我们研究的焦点。结合该区现有资料和前人研究成果，对北黄海盆地的地球物理场和地质构造特征进行了全面的论述，并在此基础上，对该区油气资源远景作了初步评价。     

Submarine canyons on the north of Chiwei Island: influenced by recent extension of the southern Okinawa Trough

Based on new multibeam bathymetric data and about 300 km long single seismic profiles, three topographic units were identified:the canyons, fractural valley and submarine terrace on the north of Chiwei Island where is a structural transition zone between the southern trough and the middle trough. The Chiwei Canyon and the North Chiwei Canyon are two of the largest canyons in the East China Sea (ECS) slope. Topographic features and architectures of them are described. The study shows that both of them are originated along faults. The evolution and spatial distribution of topographic units in the study area are controlled mainly by three groups of faults which were formed and reactive in the recent extensional phase of Okinawa Trough. The Chiwei Canyon was initiated during the middle Pleistocene and guided by F4 that is a N-S trending fault on the slope and F1, a large NW-SE trending fault on the trough. The pathway migration from the remnant channel to the present one of Chiwei Canyon is the result of uplift of tilted fault block that is coupled to the recent extension movements of the southern trough. The submarine terrace is detached from the ECS slope by the NEE-trending fault. The North Chiwei Canyon, developing during the late Pleistocene, is guided by F5, a N-S trending fault, diverted and blocked by the submarine terrace.     

Submarine canyons on the north of Chiwei Island:influenced by recent extension of the southern Okinawa Trough

Based on new multibeam bathymetric data and about 300 km long single seismic profiles, three topographic units were identified： the canyons, fractural valley and submarine terrace on the north of Chiwei Island where is a structural transition zone between the southern trough and the middle trough. The Chiwei Canyon and the North Chiwei Canyon are two of the largest canyons in the East China Sea （ECS） slope. Topographic features and architectures of them are described. The study shows that both of them are originated along faults. The evolution and spatial distribution of topographic units in the study area are controlled mainly by three groups of faults which were formed and reactive in the recent extensional phase of Okinawa Trough. The Chiwei Canyon was initia- ted during the middle Pleistocene and guided by F4 that is a N--S trending fault on the slope and F1, a large NW--SE trending fault on the trough. The pathway migration from the remnant channel to the present one of Chiwei Canyon is the result of uplift of tilted fault block that is coupled to the recent extension movements of the southern trough. The submarine terrace is detached from the ECS slope by the NEE -trending fault. The North Chiwei Canyon, developing during the late Pleistocene, is guided by FS, a N-S trending fault, diverted and blocked by the submarine terrace.     

A mid-Oligocene cooling (Oi-2b) reflected in the dinoflagellate record and in depositional sequence architecture. An integrated study from the eastern North Sea Basin

Integrated micropaleontological (dinoflagellate and foraminifera) and 3D seismic studies of Oligocene surfaces were carried out in the eastern North Sea in order to investigate the influence of the climate on the evolution of depositional geometries and surface morphologies.